3of3Steven Okert had 24 saves pitching at Class A and Double-A last year.Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The national pastime in these parts is not necessarily baseball, but razzing Jeremy Affeldt.

On the first day of workouts, as pitchers and catchers stretched, Matt Cain pointed toward left-handed prospect Steven Okert and said, “Hey, Affeldt, this guy throws 97 from here,” mimicking a low three-quarters delivery, suggesting that Okert had the tools to render Affeldt obsolete.

Affeldt gives as good as he gets. He told Okert they were going to play catch, which can be viewed as a threat, especially on days that Affeldt is throwing a fussilade of ankle-biting scuds in the dirt.

All joking aside, Affeldt and Okert might be working together soon enough, because the 23-year-old Texan is coming fast and could reach the majors this season.

Last year, Okert registered more saves in the minors (24) than either Santiago Casilla (19) or Sergio Romo (23) had in the majors.

Okert had 19 saves at Class A San Jose while racking up 54 strikeouts in 351/3 innings, then added five saves for Double-A Richmond. He raised his stock again in the Arizona Fall League, posting an 0.75 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 12 innings while facing some of the game’s best hitting prospects.

Fans who watch Okert might see a little of Randy Johnson, even though Okert is “only” 6-foot-3.

Okert was a struggling starter at Grayson County College in Texas when his summer-league coach, Danny Florence, suggested he drop his arm as the Big Unit did.

“A lot of times he would pull up videos of Randy Johnson and show me where he was throwing from,” Okert said. “He was 6-10, which was a little different. Plus, he throws 100. But he showed me his arm angle, where he was on the rubber, and how hard it is for a lefty to see that because the ball is coming from behind his back and sweeping across.”

Okert dumped his over-the-top delivery and a curveball that was not very effective and became a fastball-slider guy, also like Johnson. Cain was exaggerating on the velocity some; Okert said he throws in the low to mid-90s.

Last week, Okert threw live batting practice to a group that included left-handed-hitter Gregor Blanco, who said, “I want to face him again because I don’t like the way I looked against him.

“He was good, man. His pitches are really hard to pick up. As soon as you get in the box, you feel uncomfortable. I’m excited to have him here on our side.”

If Okert does reach the majors this year, karma dictates he would make his major-league debut against the Brewers, who coveted him.

Milwaukee drafted him twice, in the 43rd round out of high school and 33rd round after one year in junior college at Grayson. Twice Okert said no thanks, ultimately deciding to play at the University of Oklahoma as a junior.

There, he became a reliever, struck out 78 in 85 innings and caught the Giants’ attention. They grabbed him in the fourth round of the 2012 draft for a reported $270,000 signing bonus.

“It definitely worked out in my favor,” Okert said. “I went to Oklahoma and struggled as a starter to start the year. Then I was in the bullpen a couple of weeks, then had a velocity jump and everything took off from there.”

Landing in Scottsdale, where he had better tape his ankles if Affeldt asks him to play catch.

Henry Schulman has covered the San Francisco Giants since 1988, starting with the Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Examiner before moving to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1998. His career has spanned the "Earthquake World Series" in 1989 and the Giants' three World Series championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014. In between, he covered Barry Bonds' controversial career with the Giants, including Bonds ' successful quests for home-run records and his place in baseball's performance-enhancing drugs scandal. Known for his perspective and wit, Henry also appears frequently on radio and television talking Giants, and is a popular follow on Twitter.